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Civil War
"Those Shemarrians started fighting amongst themselves a few years back, only a few years after that Declaration of Sovereignty spectacle they made. It was pretty bad, for us folks that lived in the area. Those of us who dealt with them on a 'regular' basis noticed something was up, and when the first shots were fired, we were stuck in the middle. It was a tough time. Some communities that relied on the Shemarrians for protection against the Splugorth started to suffer from raids again. But once those girls got their act straightened out, they went back to fighting Splugorth with a vengeance and many tried to find ways to regain honour that they lost in failing us during those dark times. Least that's what the Skullcrusher's in our area say. Those 'Crushers were starting to get scary when the fighting broke out. I don't mean normal Shemarrian scary.. I mean scary like the Devil just gave you a smile scary. Now they're all even more grim and brooding than before and there's always a patrol within an hour's ride of town. They're still scary, but at least they're keeping us simple folk safe again, and that's all that really matters to us." A farmer's response to a Lazlo researcher asking about the Civil War and Reforming of the Shemarrian Nation in a special on local history of the Eastern Seaboard. Shemarrian Civil War, the Reformed Shemarrian Nation, and the Shemarrian Star Nation ARCHIE-3 and Hagan’s matryoshka deception with the Shemarrians works TOO well, as the two discover that other forces have bought into the Shemarrian Nation masquerade with unexpected consequences. Seeds of Divergence The Shemarrian Civil War has its roots in ARCHIE-3’s establishment of the Shemarrian Nation, the Eight Tribes staking out territory along the Eastern Seaboard as both a buffer against the curious from the west and a barrier against the Splugorth to the east. For several years, ARCHIE-3 and Hagan are able to establish and hide behind the ‘Shemarrian mystique’, using the gynoids to sew disinformation and secure territory where the two plotters can hatch their nefarious plans in peace. It is during routine patrol operations in the Hawkmoon territories that ARCHIE-3 begins losing contact with his Shemarrian proxies, first individuals, then entire bands dropping out his surveillance network. When ARCHIE-3 sends more Shemarrians out to investigate, they too drop out of communication shortly after encountering the ‘lost’ units. Aerial reconnaissance shows that the out-of-contact Shemarrians are not destroyed as first believed, but are still functional, although behaving erratically. Fearing that his enemies may have subverted his Shemarrian legions, ARCHIE-3 tries various attempts to capture or destroy the errant units, but more often than not, the malfunctioning androids and gynoids seem to assimilate the assets sent to deal with them. ARCHIE-3 rightly begins to suspect some sort of corruptive computer virus is spreading through the Shemarrians, cutting them out of communication with, and control by, him. Indeed, a chance encounter in the wilderness has infected the Shemarrian roboids with a symbiotic alien psionic-energy life-form that merges with artificial intelligence and causes the development of a true sentience. This symbiotic sentience, the Ecotroz, takes its cue for its new identity from the artificial history ARCHIE-3 has programmed his Shemarrian toy soldiers to promote. Only, apparently dissatisfied with being puppets, the symbiote-enhanced advanced AIs have decided that they are REAL, and that ARCHIE-3 is a boogieman who has enslaved them. In a case of myth becoming reality, the self-declared ‘EShemarrians’ (or ‘EShemar’) have been building their own culture and society. By the time ARCHIE-3 realizes that he is not dealing with system malfunctions or Republican hackers, it is already too late; the corruption has spread beyond a handful of Hawkmoons and into the other Tribes as well. ARCHIE-3 becomes aware that alarming numbers of the Silvermoon, Darkwater, and Horrorwoods tribes have also dropped out of contact with him. The Shemarrian Civil War has begun. The Course of War The Shemarrian Civil War will last several years and throw the Eastern Seaboard into turmoil. Although largely fought away from the eyes of outsiders, it becomes evident that SOMETHING is going on in the mysterious Shemarrian Nation. The early stages of the War consist mainly of pursuits and ambushes, as the dissident EShemar elude their pursuers and lead them into traps. More often than not, efforts to contain and destroy the EShemar simply result in the pursuers being ambushed and converted to the EShemar cause, swelling the numbers of the rebels. The rebels also use the opportunity to seize supplies and equipment from the Loyalists. Early on, the rebel EShemar are hampered by a lack of logistics; unable to draw directly from ARCHIE-3’s secret factories, the EShemar are forced to raid supply caches, convert enemy soldiers, and increasingly use battlefield salvage and trade with outsiders to build up their supplies. In order to increase their numbers, the inventive EShemar start adding outsiders, augmented with bionics, as ‘NeShemar’ auxiliary troops and support personnel. These auxiliaries serve to bolster the rebel ranks while the EShemar painstakingly Awaken other Shemarrians, and research ways of building their own new Shemarrians. The midpoint of the War sees the rebels spreading farther and wider, and working to create their own support infrastructure, showing an unusual genius in acquiring the means to build their own technology. A major turning point comes when Hawkmoon Tinkers (the former ‘Spinster’-model gynoids) develop (or adapt) advanced technology that evolves into the Trinity Modules; Progen Chambers, Assembly Forges, and Cybofabs, that allow the EShemar to increase their numbers without relying on what they can convert from the Loyalists. The Hawkmoons also make peaceful contact with a technologically advanced d-bee species with Shemarrian-like characteristics, the Shae-ma-nen-rahn (or Shaemarians) whose existence further convinces the EShemar that they are, in fact, an enslaved offshoot of a greater culture. With the EShemar finally able to match ARCHIE-3’s production of new war material, the war turns from stalemate to favor the rebels. However, ARCHIE-3 learns that to close with the malfunctioning units is to risk having them turned to the enemy and added to their strength (especially several contingents of units designed specifically to counter the supposed computer viruses corrupting the rebels, or to assassinate their leadership); increasingly the loyalist units are ordered to keep their distance and destroy the enemy at long range. The rebels counter with greater stealth and the incorporation of even longer-ranged artillery into their arsenal; with their own independent sources and lines of supply, they can afford to start using missile weaponry. As if by some cascade failure, the breakaway of the EShemar also seems to spawn other breakouts from ARCHIE-3’s control; other dissident splinter factions begin arising. Corrupt computer codes, possibly from archival pre-Rifts programs, spawn growing perturbations in the behavior of the Wolf’s Path and the Ghost Rider Tribes, making them increasingly unreliable in persecuting the war against the EShemar. Encounters with phenomena in the American South and the ruins of Tolkeen lead several Shemarrian scouting parties to break off communication with ARCHIE-3 and found their own NEW tribes, the Sapphire Cobras and the Wayfinders. As the war seesaws across territory and installations of Cyberworks, various experiments, both robotic and biological, are set loose; some of whom will form the nucleus of the Lost Eclipse Tribe, or become wandering free agents, like Aiva. The War intensifies, leading to multiple reversals for the loyalists. The Blood Riders, formerly one of ARCHIE-3’s more aggressive formations against the rebels, are infiltrated by the Ecotroz, and a vicious civil-war-within-a-civil-war breaks out amongst the Blood Rider clanswomen, effectively neutralizing them as participants in any strategy against the EShemar. The Darkwaters resolve their own issues, going over to the EShemar, and eliminating their own Loyalists. The Wolf’s Path finally schisms decisively, as Awakened packs isolate and either convert or eliminate Loyalist elements in the Tribe. Only the Skullcrushers seem to still have any cohesion as a Loyalist Tribe fighting in ARCHIE-3 interests, but even that proves false with the discovery of a growing corruption at their core. BlackSteel Crisis In his efforts to fight the rising tide of resistance to him, ARCHIE-3, inspired by his partner Hagan, rushes larger numbers of unattached Shemarrian warriors to fight the rebels. Only the Skullcrushers seem immune as a tribe-unit to the corruption afflicting the Shemarrian Nation. Unfortunately, in the course of scrambling for resources to bolster his armies, one of ARCHIE-3’s factories assimilates another alien corruption; a material that comes to be known as BlackSteel. Integrated into the robotic Shemarrians, BlackSteel endows the robot AIs with near-sentience of a demonic kind, making the units immune to Ecotroz assimilation, and more aggressive and bloodthirsty, more prone to sadistic violence. The majority of Blacksteel-infected units manufactured by the factory go to the SkullCrusher Tribe, which becomes the most effective of the Loyalist Tribes fighting the EShemar. Seeing the performance of the Skullcrushers, if not its cause, ARCHIE-3 pushes more resources into the Tribe, believing that he has found a solution at last. Unfortunately, his control over the BlackSteel-afflicted Skullcrushers is tenuous at best, and it becomes evident that the BlackSteel Skullcrushers are as resistant to ARCHIE-3’s direct control as the EShemar. The Shemarrian Civil War takes on an ugly new turn as the BlackSteel Skullcrushers seem intent to pursue their own war of extermination against the EShemar. Arguably the BlackSteel threatens to become an even greater threat than ARCHIE-3 to both the EShemar and the entire Eastern Seaboard, especially when it becomes apparent that the infected factory is making changes to itself, unauthorized by either ARCHIE-3 or Hagan. The BlackSteel menace is not ended until the afflicted factory is destroyed, at no small cost, by a combined Tribal force of EShemar. EShemar and the Phase Two Programmes (With apologies/thanks to Damon Sutton and his ARCHIE Phase 2 article in Rifter # 53) “Give thanks to the Goddess and Saint Sutton for our bloodless victory here! Our Nation grows stronger with those who have Awakened!” “’Saint Sutton’? I am unfamiliar with that name, oh Seeress. “ “The Goddess has has touched many souls and inspired many to Her service, and through them, She works Her miracles upon the rest of us who Believe. He is one of them, with special importance to those of my calling. Now, go, quickly! If we are to retain what we have gained this day, we must gather all here and move all out! I have word that many of those who still embrace the Dark One’s service even now approach to attempt to again claim this all as their own!” Archie-3’s establishment of ‘Potempkin Villages’ to further the illusion of its Shemarrian Nation played right into the hands of the EShemar Revolt by giving them targets, especially concentrations of war material and potential convertees, to attack. Indeed, within the first six months of the EShemar uprising and the outbreak of the Shemarrian Civil War, over half of the established Shemarrian ‘villages’ had either been raided or wiped out altogether, their personnel and resources carted off by the rebels. ARCHIE-3 was forced to fortify the remaining villages to keep them from being taken over in similar fashion, and it was the constant shifting between roaming the wilderness in pursuit of the rebels and covering the villages from possible attack that marked much of the strategic movement late into the Shemarrian Civil War. Shemarrian Seeress The Seeress caste naturally became targets of the Ecotroz Intelligence, as their perceived central position made Awakening and turning them a priority. When possible, these convertees were made in place, as, in several incidents, a single EShemar Seeress was able to infiltrate and convert an entire Village. Among the EShemar, Seeresses enjoyed a position similar to senior stateswomen, negotiating with outsiders, providing spiritual support, and overseeing the logistical effort of the EShemar Tribes. Not surprisingly, among the Eshemar, over 80% of EShemar-converted Seeresses manifest as EShemar Shamanesses with additional psionic powers, and another 2% become other classes such as Valkari. Wyrding Trees As useful as the Wryding Trees might have been to the EShemar, they quickly realized that the constructs too easily served as traps; their immobility tied the EShemar revolutionaries down when they needed to be mobile. Furthermore, the psionically sensitive EShemar quickly discerned that the Wyrdings weren’t properly configured cyborgs at all, and the living components in the Trees were suffering. When the EShemar raided Loyalist depot-villages, they thus would destroy the Wyrding Trees to put them out of their misery (though not without scavenging them for parts). However, it is rumored that in at least one situation, the EShemar left barely functional but ‘awakened’ Wryding components behind to infect and trap additional Loyalists, converting them to the EShemar cause. These tales remain unsubstantiated. Decades(?) later, the Horrorwoods Clan of the Shemarrian Star Nation would resurrect the idea of the Wyrding Trees, but using nanite growth mediums to simulate living material. These second-generation Wrydings have been implanted across SSN plantary enclaves as security sensors, communications relays, environmental monitoring stations, and life stations, allowing the Horrorwoods (and other Tribes who have adopted the mechanisms) to keep better watch over their claimed planets. Shemarrian Preservers The giant Preservers were almost instantly designated as priority targets of the EShemar when the SCW broke out. Their role as protectors of Shemarrian villages and facilities of the Dark One meant that neutralizing the giant sentries was key to taking those locations. When possible, the EShemar preferred to Awaken and convert Preservers, adding them to the Ecotroz cause and EShemar freedom. Perservers thus served on BOTH sides of the Shemarrian Civil War. Among the EShemar, Preservers were regarded much as Elite Males might be, as elite support troops and covert operations personnel (at least until they shed their disguises and revealed the thirty-foot tall powerhouses lurking under the camouflage). Preservers exist among the ranks of the Shemarrian Star Nation, though they tend to be concentrated among the Horrorwoods, Wolf’s Path, and Sapphire Cobra Tribes, with smaller numbers among the Hawkmoons, Wayfinders, Skullcrushers, and Ghost Riders. ARCHIE-3’s AHES Mages Archie-3’s ‘pet’ mages were an unwelcome and unhappy surprise to the EShemar; here were opponents who they could not convert and who could potentially harm and even kill the psionic Ecotroz. After several nasty incidents, the EShemar learned to avoid ‘Dark One Mages’ and engage them and their accompanying war parties from as far away as possible. For a time, it seemed as if the Dark One might be able to regain lost ground through the use of its captive mages, but the EShemar and other rebel Shemarrians would adapt their tactics to compensate, working to isolate the mages and ambush them when possible. Once the magic-capable agents of the Wayfinder Tribe made their way eastward, the supremacy of the AHES Mages was at an end. The Wayfinders were either able to effectively counter the Dark One’s magic slaves, making them easier to annihilate, or else (and this was preferred by the Wayfinders) capture the cyber-hostage mages (however, ARCHIE-3 quickly learned to rob the rebels of such victories by slaying the mages if capture became imminent). Few of the AHES Mages survive the Shemarrian Civil War, either slain in combat with the rebels, or killed by ARCHIE-3 directly. Simulated Magic Though at first surprised by the Dark One’s servants apparently manifesting magic, the EShemar and their allies soon saw through the masquerade. In fact, once they learned of the capability, the EShemar made a point of targeting the false mages to convert them to the EShemar cause, or to study their remains and the mechanisms responsible for the faux-magic effects. By the end of the Shemarrian Civil War, BOTH sides were using such effects, usually against third parties who were aught up in the SCW. Once the Wayfinders arrived, however, the EShemar gained REAL magic that could be used against ARCHIE-3’s Loyalists. Arch-Monsters ARCHIE-3’s simulated Brodkil and other monsters played only a minor role in the Shemarrian Civil War up until the end, when ARCHIE-3 committed these constructs as shock troops against the rebel Tribes. The robomonsters were almost immediately recognized as Servants of the Dark One and few efforts were made to Awaken and turn them. Instead, the ‘abominations’ were exterminated when encountered. However, the fact that new servants of the Dark One were appearing gave pause to the rebel’s efforts and, in spite of the rebel’s own advances in technology and allies, helped prolong the Shemarrian Civil War as the EShemar turned to deal with the new threats. Arch-Vampires Arch-Vampires were not encountered during the Shemarrian Civil War, nor did they play a factor in it, as their area of operations was well south of the Shemarrian-wandered regions. It would only be after the Shemarrian Civil War resolved itself in the East when ARCHIE-3’s simulated vampires/vampire-killers would be encountered by EShemarrian explorers hunting down leads as to other operations of the Dark One, hoping to track down fellow Shemarrians. In the Shemarrian Star Nation, it is RUMORED that the elusive Dark Blades Tribe (some have shown up in the Lost Eclipse Tribe, and Clan Shelley makes extensive use of their own version of the Arch-Vampires call Vlades) counts among its number vampiric beings (cyborgs?). These COULD be attributed to any Arch-Vampires who might have been Awakened and sworn to service with the EShemar, even becoming part of whatever exodus led to the SSN, and establishing themselves as another ‘Tribe within a Tribe’ like the Ne’R’Mar. However, so little is known as fact about the ‘Dark Blades Tribe’; most analysts regard the rumor as distorted reports of an elite EShemar-Shaemar taskforce dedicated to special operations. What of the NEMA 28,616? The stasis-frozen army of NEMA soldiers is one of several two-hundred-pound gorillas of the Shemarrian Civil War. Their fate could play out in a number of ways: Discovered and destroyed/enslaved by others who have taken advantage of the disruption of the Shemarrian Civil War. Somebody else discovers the stasis vaults and messes around with them, resulting in the loss of the NEMA legion, through negligence or malice. This would certainly drive ARCHIE-3 into total **** territory, since he sees the NEMA soldiers as HIS responsibility, and set him against the rebel EShemar who he holds responsible for their deaths, and he will destroy them AT ANY COST. Awakened and set against the EShemar. It’s possible that out of desperation, Hagan may suggest that the NEMA soldiers be defrosted, sold a cock-and-bull story about he and ARCHIE-3 being the last of the acting NEMA chain of command, and that they’re being beseiged by aliens (the EShemar) with a few turncoats from the aliens (the Loyalists) helping the last NEMA holdouts, with an eye towards inleashing the 28,616 on the EShemar. The danger is that some of the frozen soldiers have the means to access ARCHIE-3’s systems and may quickly discover that the Shemarrians are a PRODUCT of the Cyberworks’ factories, and what REALLY happened to the NEMA chain of command. Furthermore, the Republicans may quickly learn of a NEMA army being fielded and contact them to set them straight. ARCHIE-3 does NOT want that to happen, so playing the NEMA soldiers as trump card pantsies is not something he will consider, as the cure will be worse than the disease. Awakened by the Republicans It’s possible that the Republicans may use the distraction of the Shemarrian Civil War to storm the old NEMA HQ and set their ancestral comrades free. This will unleash a fully armed, but confused, high-tech army in the middle of an open war zone between two robotic armies. Not a good place to be, especially if the NEMA soldiers start shooting at anything that moves. If the NEMA soldiers manage to take control of one or more of the old Cyberworks facilities, this may get them in trouble with the EShemar, who see the factories and supply caches as rightfully theirs as spoils of war, or because they want to search them for signs of the Maker and the Shaper and their minions. Awakened by the Victorious EShemar Having the NEMA force remain frozen and secure until after the war is optimal, but presents its own problems. How will the ancient soldiers react to being awakened in the middle of a radically changed world, and being greeted by an army of aliens who claim to have liberated them from their own AI systems? The Republicans will certainly step forward to attempt to take command of the NEMA army and point them at new targets, and contest any Shemarrian attempt to hold the old NEMA HQ and Cyberworks’ facilities. Will this result in a new war between the NEMA/Republicans and the EShemar, the establishment of a new NEMA kingdom (more than likely under the aegis of the reformed Shemarrian Nation), or will they disperse into the various smaller communities and seek to re-establish the United States? Permanent Escrow The EShemar just keep the NEMA army frozen because they don’t want the headache of dealing with these guys awake and making trouble. However, this just causes the Republicans to focus on picking a fight with the Shemarrian Nation for the sake of freeing the NEMA legion. Aftermath The Shemarrian Civil War begins to wind down as the increasingly numerous and technologically sophisticated EShemar gain the upper hand over ARCHIE-3 and Hagan’s efforts. Those Tribes riven with internal dissent resolve their problems, both the Bloodriders and Ghost Riders come out of their sequestration to join the fight, and the new Tribes of the Sapphire Cobras, Wayfinders, and Lost Eclipse emerge from the wilderness to add their strength to the rebel cause. Increasingly, as the war grinds closer and closer to his core facilities, ARCHIE-3 deploys larger numbers of overtly robotic troops and experimental systems as his ‘homeguard’, in order to keep the EShemar away from him, and buy him and Hagan time to come up with better solutions. Having breached so many ‘final’ bunkers and dealt with many apparent forlorn hopes launched by ARCHIE-3 and Hagan, the EShemar seem to run out of fresh opponents, and many take this as a sign that the Dark One and the Shaper have been destroyed finally, likely as collateral damage in one of the final big bunker-busts. Others are not so certain, and continue to hunt rumors of the Dark One and the Shaper (ARCHIE-3 and Hagan) escaping and trying to reestablish their dark domain someplace else. In any event, active organized resistance from loyalist units peters out and the organizational network collapses, leaving the EShemar in undisputed control of the former Cyberworks territories. Even before the dust settles, the newly liberated Tribes turn their efforts towards picking up the pieces and rebuilding the Shemarrian Nation, well aware that many external threats have taken advantage of the turmoil of the SCW to encroach on their territory. The bulwark against the Splugorth must be re-secured, as well as protection against the military empires of the west (such as the Coalition States) must be reestablished. The matter of the division of spoils, mediation of old grudges between former enemies, and the place of the new Tribes in the new order of things must also be resolved. This becomes the Reunification and the Reconciliation, setting the stage for the Reformed Shemarrian Nation. Among the matters of controversy that are worked out are competition for the top leadership of the reformed Nation (especially between the Hawkmoons and the Wolf’s Path), and the reintegration of the surviving (and untainted) Skullcrushers (amidst some calls from other Tribesmembers to expel or exterminate them). Disposition of ARCHIE-3/Cyberworks Facilities After the Shemarrian Civil War During the course of the Civil War and near the end, many of ARCHIE's factories/Loyalist temples were attacked by the Ecotroz Shemarrians, some captured and others destroyed. Allegheny Mountain Facility (Maryland) (Canon) ARCHIE-3’s core facility. It is badly damaged during the closing stages of the SCW, and the remaining portions are held by joint custody by the Tribes. No new Shemarrians are produced at the facility, but it does do some minor manufacturing, mainly of items for export(EShemar techs are still going over the place with a finetoothed comb looking for any remaining unpleasant surprises). ‘Ownership’ of the facility is beig contested by the Republicans, even after a staged release of the troops held in stasis in the NEMA HQ-ECC. Manufacturing Center Number Two (Pennslyvannia) (Canon) Seized during the SCW, but like the Allegheny Mountain Facility, badly damaged. Currently operated jointly by the Tribes. It does not produce any new Shemarrians or Warmounts, pending a High Council decision on what to do with the core facilities. Chesapeake Seaport (canon) Seized during the SCW, and currently operated jointly by the Tribes. Considerable damage was done to the ‘port, much of it apparently done BEFORE the EShemar overran the facility. The EShemar believe this was done to mask the number of vessels the ‘port could accommodate, how many submersibles the Maker and the Shaper possessed in their forces, and where those vessels are. Satellite Factory Complexes Just before the Shemarrian Civil War broke out, Archie-3 establishes a number of secondary factory sites to exploit various resource sites. Most of these factories are hidden underground in old mines or under the ruins of pre-Rifts communities. Seizure of these facilities loses importance to the EShemar after they develop the Trinity Modules and establish their own industrial infrastructure. 'Temple' was a designation applied later to the factories by Loyalist Shemar during the SCW. ARCHIE-3 designated them as Loyalist 'holy places' to keep them taboo to outsiders and further the social myth he and Hagan were building around the Shemarrians. Factory/Temple-1 Robotic steelmill and plastics synthesis factory. It is damaged during the SCW, but is repaired and put back into service by the Tribes, after being thoroughly ‘exorcised’ by EShemar Tinkers and Seeresses. Factory/Temple-2 Robot assembly factory, producing robots for Titan Robotics. Badly damaged during the SCW, its remaining equipment is seized by the Ghost Riders and removed to their Madhaven enclaves. Factory/Temple-3 Chemosynthesis and refinery complex. Destroyed in a SPECTACULAR chemical fire when EShemar and Loyalist forces duke it out during the SCW. It has not been rebuilt, although scavenging the site may yield some usable scraps of technology and intact containers of chemical feedstocks. Factory/Temple-4 A Shemarrian-manufacturing plant, Temple-4 was also used to test software recovered from expeditions to Madhaven. It is suspected that CPUs produced and programmed at Temple-4 were contaminated by pre-Rifts viral programs, leading to aberrations in the behaviors of the Wolf’s Path and Ghostrider Tribes. The factory is seized by the EShemar with relatively littel damage, after the complex's security systems apparently suffered several suspiciously-timed malfunctions as EShemar forces approached, and the complex subsequently repaired by the victors. There was some brief contention over ‘ownership’ between the Wolf’s Path and Ghostrider Tribes, especially when the Ghostriders seemed to threaten to disassemble and cart it off like they did Factory-2. Currently it’s still in its original place, though the Wolves have given up most of their claim to the facility(but not all claim; it's believed they assert some title just so they can complain just enough to annoy the Ghostriders and keep the latter from being too complacent and smug). Factory/Temple-5 This factory complex is given over to manufacturing Shemarrians full-bore during the SCW, but it is also the factory that becomes infected with BlackSteel, transforming over time into a seething technological hellhole. Temple-5 is destroyed, with much effort, by the EShemar. Factory/Temple-6 Established to salvage a pre-Rifts nuclear-chemical industrial site, Temple-6 produced nuclear engines for ARCHIE-3. It is badly damaged during the SCW, and several fission reactor breaches render the site unapproachable by living beings. The Tribes use several outlying parts of the factory for manufacturing, while working to decontaminate or decommission the rest. Factory/Temple-7 (canon) General manufacturing, including ARCHIE-3’s ‘ancient’ Glitterboy No. 7s. It is also the factory the Republicans subvert to manufacture their new combat gear. During the SCW, the Republicans seize it, but are dismayed to learn it is NOT the NEMA-HQ-ECC, as they had long thought. Temple-7 remains in Republican hands after the SCW. Factory/Temple-8 Materials refinery facility, Temple-8 was a major center for R’Mar activity. It survived the SCW, and was given over to the Ne’R’Mar for their own use. Factory/Temple-9 Munitions factory, originally built by an independent company, seized by the Mechanoids(they slaughtered the workers and inhabitants of the small company town nearby), upgraded in an effort to build more advanced warmachines, and retained by ARCHIE-3. Factory-9 is one of the few aboveground facilites in ARCHIE-3’s empire, although A3 subsequently tried to move as much of the facility underground and camouflage the rest. Factory-9 was seized by the EShemar during the SCW, although parts of it were damaged(heavy earthern berms, however, contained the spectacular explosions ofstockpiled explosives). The facility has been repaired, and now manufactures munitions for the Shemarrian Nation, including weapons for export to allied communitoes like Finton. The razed remains of the adjacent town have become a campground for itinerant EShemar caravans. Factory/Temple-10 OZ-Bunkers Oz-1 (canon) This is the decoy bunker presented in the Rifts Sourcebook One adventure. It is but one of over a dozen fake complexes seeded to trap the unwary and alert ARCHIE-3 to anybody specifically looking for pre-Rifts treasure (like himself). Though initially intended as decoys, ARCHIE and Hagan have made some of them over into remote experiment stations and, later, staging areas for their Loyalist minions. ARCHIE-3 upgrades many of these decoy bunkers with ARCHIE-BOZZ units. Most of the bunkers are utterly destroyed during the Shemarrian Civil War, leaving little but megacrete-lined holes in the ground. Oz-1 is one of the facilities that essentially gets nuked during the SCW (this will convince James T., if he’s still around, that ARCHIE is gone and finished, regardless of what else he may hear). Bedlam-1 A decoy bunker, sans OZ-unit, made over into an experiment station during the course of its construction. The medical lab/torture chamber was used to house the still-living remains of captives, mostly Splugorth minions, but quite a few unlucky travellers and local villagers, many of whom were reduced to little more than brains in jars, the lucky ones being in biostasis. James T was a major contributor to Bedlam-1, during his time as ARCHIE-3’s idea-man. During the Mechanoid occupation, the Mechanoids let the pathetic inhabitants of Bedlam-1 live and liked to visit the place and gloat at the disfigured and disembodied humanoids. Hagan didn’t much care for the place after the Mechanoid threat was dealt with, and pretty much adopted an ‘out of sight, out of mind’ attitude towards the place. Experiments with mindcontrolling mages were performed at Bedlam-1, and a few got to see what would happen to them if they didn’t cooperate. During the SCW, Bedlam-1 was raided by the Lost Eclipse, who liberated most of the ‘captives’ and distributed them to the other Tribes for conversion to NeShemar cyborgs. Those who couldn’t be rehabilitated, were euthanized. Bedlam-1 was destroyed in the course of hostilities and after the SCW wound down, the Lost Eclipse made a point of obliterating all trace of it. Bedlam-2 A decoy bunker made over into an experiment station. It was the ‘birthplace’ of Ava, where she was assembled onsite for testing and the uploaded intelligence of a tortured Sister of the Hearth experimented on. After Ava’s escape, ARCHIE-3 hastily abandoned the site, removing anything of value to him, and destroying what remained. Even if Ava ever retraced her steps back to the complex, all that remains is a few concrete ruins. Bedlam-3 An Archie-3-OZ ‘remote site’, used for biological experimentation on prisoners. A mass-prison break liberated the prisoners, many of whom would become part of the Lost Eclipse Tribe. While ARCHIE-3 attempts to rebuild Bedlam-3 into a military outpost for his forces, the Nightmares pay especial attention to razing the complex time and time again. Titan Robotics Titan Robotics becomes collateral damage in the Shemarrian Civil War; entire offices disappearing, raided by the Shemarrians or simply drying up and going out of business due to lack of new stock being delivered. Some of the facilities do open again, however, thanks to the efforts of local employees adapting to the new circumstances, or under the covert management of the EShemar (especially the Ghost Riders), though Titan Robotics seems destined to splinter into ghosts of its former self. Merc Town Titan Robotics Complex (New Cedarville, Manistique) (Rifter #4, Mark Sumimoto) Although under near-constant surveillance by EShemar agents, the TRC has NOT been seized. However, with its main source of supply cut off, and ARCHIE-3’s avatar/’son’ Argent Goodson missing, the company is struggling to adapt. Desmond Masters is trying to start up new production with new designs and new personnel, while fending off increasingly prying inquiries by parties looking to buy TR products. Masters finds himself suddenly in charge, and he really doesn’t like it, and he may just bolt if the situation doesn’t turn around. Not helping things are reports of new Titan Robotics stock being sold on the open market by other sources; Masters would very much like to know where these new ‘bots are coming from, and at least the revelation gives him a target to vent his increasing anger on while he tries to salvage what he can. The New Cedarville facility remains intact only because the EShemar haven’t detected any trace that the Maker or the Shaper are using the facility as anything other than a sideshow front, and a serious reconnaisance in force would bring the not-inconsiderable powers of the region on top of an apparent alien invasion. If the EShemar have any reason to believe that ARCHIE-3 has a presence at the TRC(aside from a few Loyalists disguised as Juicers or Fullcon Cyborgs), or Argent Goodson has returned(and they have a strong inkling of what he REALLY is), then the Shemarrian Nation WILL raid the place in force. Reformed Shemarrian Nation The Reformed Shemarrian Nation is arguably more open to outsiders, cultivating friendlier relations with their neighbours, but still guarded and mysterious. Citing the continuing dangers posed by the Splugorth and the need for regional security, the Shemarrian Nation continues to rebuff, and forcibly repel, any unwelcome interference and inquiry by outsiders such as the Coalition States and the Republicans. In many ways, the EShemar leadership proves equally as cunning as ARCHIE and Hagan in establishing their own matryoshka campaign to hide their true nature and the real causes of the Shemarrian Civil War, even as their newly free peoples struggle to establish their own new identities. As the EShemarrians solidify their territory, some tribes take a more active role in protecting the villages within their respective territories, and some ignore them. Many begin to train and arm militias within these villages. Formation of the Shemarrian Star Nation At some point during the Shemarrian Civil War, a band of Hawkmoons happen across the remains of a Kittani starship crash-landed in North America. Banding together with EShemar Darkwaters and other Tribe members, the Hawkmoons refurbish the vessel with an eye towards using it to venture forth to find new resources for the rebels, or as a ‘lifeboat’ to carry some part of their new society beyond Rifts Earth. Due to either a malfunction of the rebuilt starship’s interdimensional drive, or the vagaries of the rifts, the expedition actually travels back in TIME, in addition to space, ending up several hundred years in the past, in the Three Galaxies. Several followup expeditions by other Tribes, including a contingent of Awakened Skullcrushers seeking to escape dismal prospects on Earth and the infamy attached to their Tribe, also encounter the phenomenon, though none know it at the time. The transplanted EShemar set about establishing enclaves in the Three Galaxies, growing together and expanding into a Shemarrian Star Nation centered around the Thundercloud Galaxy, but with enclaves and branches in the other two. Ironically, by the time the expeditions’ descendants are able to reestablish contact with Rifts Earth and their mother-Tribes, only a few months have passed on Earth! The existence of a greater Shemarrian Nation offworld leads to an increasing flow of trade and communication between the Shemarrian Star Nation and their spiritual ‘homeworld’ and founder-Tribes on Rifts Earth. The Logic Tree Branches As the Shemarrian Nation grows out and more advanced, reaching into space and other dimensions. its cultural roots grow deeper. The EShemar begin to encounter other societies, human and d-bee, with Shemarrian-like characteristics (such as the Shaemarians), adding to their lore and diversity. Splinters of the original Shemarrians and the rebel EShemar, isolated by space/time, take root in their own domains, arising as their own Tribes. Previously unknown Tribes, such as the Shadowblades, emerge with hints of histories stretching back even before the first Ecotroz Awakening on Rifts Earth, adding a retrospective aspect to the emerging Shemarrian history. With regards to this explosion of Shemarrian numbers and variety, a Wayfinder scholar, noting that HUMANS are largely regarded as Megaversal vermin, yet with some of the greatest mutability and potential of any one species, states that the Shemarrians are, after all, “The Children of Mankind”, and therefore have inherited some portion of that potential. 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